Duncan has never turned his back on the Sighthill Stone Circle and hopes that new supporters will ensure it is finally completed. check out www.sighthillstonecircle.net

Science writer Duncan Lunan is a busy man. He has just had a book on the Green Children of Woolpit published and has two most interesting and in-depth interviews on a podcast for the Flat Earth Society.

Entitled ‘Children from the Sky’ the book explores theories around the appearance of two green coloured children suddenly appearing in a medieval village in England. They were dressed strangely, spoke a language totally unknown in the area – which was a busy pilgrim place where many travellers passed through – and who not only caused a great stir at the time but who are still being discussed today.

The podcast gives him time to give his detailed reasoning behind the book but also to explore other areas of professional interest to him ranging from outer space to Glasgow’s modern standing stones circle which he helped create.

He is still working on research on the Green Children by tracing the descendants of the girl who survived into adult hood, married and had children. The green boy died some time after being found.

Another book by Duncan is about to be published: The Stones and the Stars: Building Scotland’s Newest Megalith This tells the story of the creation of the modern stone circle Duncan devised and had built in Springburn Park. Said Duncan: ‘These two books have taken 18 years and 32 years to find publishers – it’s great to have them come off at last!’

Duncan’s wife Linda is developing a career as a photographer. Her image of an equinox sunset has been used by publishers Springer for ‘The Stones and the Stars,’ book cover and some of the illustrations in the green ‘Children from the Sky’ are Linda’s too. Both Linda and Duncan signed copies of the latter title at a meeting of the Theosophical Society in Glasgow on Thursday 23 August. It can also be found in the CCA in Sauchiehall Street and ‘Plan B’ in Parnie Street.

Dr. David Clarke, an Honourary Research Fellow with more than a dozen books published on supernatural belief, UFOlogy and contemporary legends, plans to use some of Linda’s photographs in his forthcoming History of Astronomy in Glasgow.

On Tuesday 21 August, BBC Radio Suffolk interviewed Duncan about his book Children from the Sky. This can be heard online in the Lesley Dolphin slot where Georgina Wroe sits in and talks about green things including farming, food and the green children of Woolpit.

People who enjoy sewing by hand sewing and can follow detailed instructions have the chance of some unique contractual work making mediaeval styled clothes and accessories. The garments are being designed and created to complement a book entitled Children from the Sky due to be published in May.

Written by Glasgow based writer and astronomer, Duncan Lunan, it concerns the mediaeval mystery of the sudden appearance of two green children dressed in strange clothes and speaking in an unknown language in a village in England. Now Duncan and his wife Linda with their Children from the Sky (CFTS) team, are developing promotional materials with some exciting ideas on how to tell the fascinating story.

Glasgow based science writer Duncan Lunan has had an exceptionally good Christmas and is looking forward to more in the New Year. As this ENEWS letter is circulating, a two hour long interview he did with Nancy Wallace of the United States online BBS Radio will be broadcast. In it he will discuss his book –’Children from the Sky’. This is his investigation of the mediaeval mystery of the Green Children of Woolpit. Two children – green in colour – speaking a strange language and dressed in unidentifiable clothes, suddenly appeared in the village of Woolpit in Suffolk.

Another programme from the online station will interview Duncan on Friday 6 January 2012. And other online radio stations have picked up on his work. The book can be ordered through Amazon and was accepted by Mutus Liber, publishers early in December. Duncan signed two new book contracts in September with international publishers Springer Science & Business Media.

Already he and his wife Linda are preparing for a book launch party and have ‘booked’ a cake from Sugarcraft of Mosspark.

Children from the Sky is expected to feature in an issue of 55 Life Glasgow magzine around now. (www.55life.co.uk)

Dunan’s other book signings are for ‘The Stones and the Stars: A New Stone Circle for Scotland’ and ‘Incoming Asteroid! What Could We Do About It?’ Both titles will be illustrated by Sydney Jordan from Dundee, the creator of Jeff Hawke, the world’s longest-running science fiction strip cartoon which appeared, worldwide, from 1954 to 1988.

The ‘Stones and Stars’ book is the story of the building of the first astronomically aligned stone circle in the UK in 3000 years – at Sighthill in Glasgow. Duncan was the manager of the Glasgow Parks Department Astronomy Project in 1978-79 which commissioned the circle. Funding ran out and it remains unfinished though current moves may allow it to be completed in 2012. In his volume, Duncan puts that project into a wider context of ancient astronomy and of earth’s place in the Solar System and the Galaxy.

The other title – ‘Incoming Asteroid!’carries on discussion among experts and thinking amateurs about what could be done if it was known there would be a Big Impact in 10 years’ time.

Duncan Lunan has written three previous books on space research, edited the first anthology of science fiction by Scottish writers, contributed to 19 other fiction and non-fiction books, and published 30 short stories and over 700 articles.

Husband and wife team Duncan and Linda Lunan have formed a new organisation, Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle, to promote and further plans to renovate and complete the astronomically aligned stone circle in Sighthill Park, Glasgow, the first of its kind in the UK for 3000 years.

The Sighthill circle was designed by Duncan and erected by the Glasgow Parks Department Astronomy Project, as part of the Jobs Creation/Special Temporary Employment Programme, 1978-79. It was dedicated to four prominent experts in the field of ancient astronomy, all with close connections to Glasgow. Following the change of government in 1979 the circle was never completed, and it has never become the local and visitor attraction which was intended. Four unused stones lie on the site to this day, the stones are partly buried following incorrect landscaping in 1982, and there is nothing to tell visitors who put them up, to whom they’re dedicated or how the circle works.

Following a public lecture and mass visit to the circle at the summer solstice in 2010, the existing paths around the circle have been cleared by Land and Environment Services. The aim now is to erect the final stones, install a plaque to explain the circle’s origins and function, restore the stones to full height and provide better footpath access. This will highlight its links to the past and the future of the area and to other astronomical attractions in the city and beyond.

Duncan and Linda invite those interested in progressing this work to contact them at: Friends of the Sighthill Stone Circle, www.sighthillstonecircle.net or tel: 0141 221 7658 or to attend the next meeting in the Ogilvie Centre, 25 Rose Street, Glasgow G3 6RE on Wednesday 22 June 2011 at 7.30pm. This will be followed by a visit to the Stone Circle in time to see the sunset there and get an understanding of how the circle works.

Editor's Corner

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